Crypto hacks: Is your bitcoin investment safe?

Hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of digital currencies have been stolen by hackers in recent months. Experts say the problem is unlikely to go away anytime soon, and fears about security have hit prices this year.

In the latest incident, South Korean exchange Coinrail announced Monday that it had been targeted by cyberthieves, who stole about 30% of its virtual currencies. “I expect hackers to continue to target crypto exchanges,” said Henri Arslanian, the head of financial technology in Asia at consultancy PwC.

“The rewards are high, and some of these exchanges grew so fast” that they haven’t yet implemented proper security, he added. In January, Japanese exchange Coincheck said hackers stole more than $500 million worth of cryptocurrency.

Last year, two bitcoin exchanges went bankrupt after falling victim to similar breaches. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, according to Yo Kwon, the CEO of Hosho Group, a Nevada-based company that specializes in securing applications that use blockchain, the technology behind bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Kwon estimates that about a third of all cryptocurrency exchanges have been hacked at some point. And he predicts “many more” will suffer the same fate. Read more from money.cnn.com…